How Jock Evaluates Healthcare Investments
At a Family Office Club event, Richard C. Wilson asks Jock about his healthcare investing work and the lessons behind it.
Richard C. Wilson introduces Jock as a healthcare investor and executive with experience across healthcare businesses. Jock says he has invested in almost every sector of healthcare. He joins the conversation to discuss how he assesses opportunities and what investors and founders should examine before committing to a healthcare business. Jock explains how he thinks about market conditions, choosing partners and operators, and building healthcare companies. He also describes his investment approach and discusses how physicians shared in the growth of one company.
In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Interviewer and event host), Jock (Chairman and chief executive officer of SSB, a diversified US-based healthcare development and investment firm)
What they said
- Jock's three-part investment model. Jock describes his investment model as clinical, business and operating expertise. He says the person seeking investment needs to defend all three. (at 5:36)
- Population-specific healthcare markets. Jock says a healthcare business needs a solution for a defined population, such as Medicare, Medicaid or commercial patients. He says he looks for people who understand and have operated that business. (at 7:26)
- Optum's role in physician practice management. Jock describes physician practice management as cyclical and says Optum controls a $90 billion market. He says Optum sets the floor for billion-dollar deals in the field, and he watches trends affecting dominant industry leaders. (at 3:43)
- Jock on earlier-stage returns. Jock says most of SSB's investments are earlier stage, usually seven to eight figures, with 10 to 30x potential. He says the firm leaves small-percentage investing to its wealth managers. (at 9:18)
- Summit's physician participation. Jock says Summit grew from a $20 million initial capitalization to almost $9 billion in its last exit. He says 1,800 physicians became millionaires in the process. (at 10:43)
In their words
"If you're not at bat, you're never going to get a hit."
"you're constantly being exposed to new and different perspectives"
Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth
Jock says his deal sources include university entrepreneurial boards, boards of counselors and company boards. Those connections put him in regular contact with people working across healthcare, which can help him judge whether a team has the clinical, business and operating expertise he looks for.
From Richard's exclusive Billionaires.com interviews
Lessons from Richard C. Wilson's one-on-one interviews, as published on each interview page.
- Anu Aga: Focus on one main cause. Her family found its giving more satisfying and impactful once it chose primary education for the underprivileged in India.
- Binod K. Chaudhary: Never chase a deal out of desperation. Stay cool and look at every part of the deal. Have your advisers and your finance team review it critically. Your counsel should review it too.
- Larry Connor: Learn from every mistake. Larry's team owns its failures and makes no excuses. They learn, change quickly, and keep getting better.
See the data
Frequently asked questions
What was Jock's background before business?
He says he trained as an academic cardiologist before entering business to try to change healthcare.
Where does Jock say he sources deals?
He says deals come from everywhere, including the National Association of Corporate Directors, universities where he serves on entrepreneurial boards, boards of counselors and company boards.
Sources
Quotes are copied from the video captions and checked against the transcript. Timestamps link to the moment in the video. General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.